Versus Vandy; Golden Eagles head to Nashville for Tuesday’s night game

Mar 22, 2011

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech baseball team will head to Nashville Tuesday night for a mid-week night game against the nationally ranked Commodores of Vanderbilt. Freshman southpaw Jake McWhirter will toss the first pitch for Tech in the game that starts at 6 p.m.

McWhirter has made six appearances for Tech so far this season, striking out 14 in 15 innings of work and holding opponents to a .286 average against him.

The Commodores will throw lefty Kevin Ziomek, who maintains a 1-0 record and a 2.14 ERA in three games started for Vandy, six appearances overall. He's pitched 21 innings, the third most of the pitching staff at VU, giving up six runs on 20 hits and notching 25 Ks.

Vanderbilt, whose 19-2 overall record (2-1 in the SEC) has earned them the no. 2 spot on Collegiate Baseball New's Division I poll this week, is coming off a series finale, 9-8 loss to Mississippi State on Sunday. The loss snapped a 12-game win streak for the Commodores.

Tech is also coming off of a late-game, 12-4 loss to a Big 10 opponent in the Purdue Boilermakers. The Golden Eagles went in to the top of the ninth inning on Sunday with the game tied at 4-4, and surrendered eight runs on six hits to yield a win, and the 2-1 series, to the Boilermakers.

Tuesday night's contest, to be held at Hawkins Field in Nashville, will mark the 39th meeting between the two teams, with Vanderbilt holding a slight 20-18 edge in the lifetime series over TTU. The last time the two teams met, Vanderbilt delt Tech a 10-1 loss early on in the 2010 season.

Fans who won't be able to make the trip to Nashville can follow the LiveStats here.